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Washington 29, Tampa Bay 19 - A surprise, to be sure. And suddenly, Brady and the Bucs are looking a bit shaky. Brady threw two INT's in the first quarter, even though one really was not his fault, but the fault of the receiver. This seemed to set the tone, however. Washington held onto the ball for over 39 minutes, almost two-thirds of the game. Their defense also played phenomenally well, forcing the Bucs to settle for field goals until midway through the third quarter, by which point Washington had built up a 16-6 lead. And Washington's offense kept answering touchdowns by the Bucs with touchdowns of their own, preserving the impressive upset win. My pick: Inaccurate
Buffalo 45, NY Jets 17 - Boy, did the Bills ever need this! They had been looking extremely shaky for quite a while now, ever since the Titans game a month or so ago. And in fact, this game looked like another tight and shaky performance by them against a weaker team. Then came the third quarter, when like a much stronger heavyweight, the Bills caught their opponent against the ropes and pounded away, doing a lot of damage. Buffalo accumulated a whopping 489 total yards of offense and 26 first downs, while capitalized on five turnovers from Gang Green. Impressive, and hopefully the turnaround the the Bills really needed. My pick: Accurate
Tennessee 23, New Orleans 21 - The Saints played well and managed to make this a close game. But one impressive thing about Tennessee so far this season is that they seem to know how to win the close games. The Titans appeared to be dominating by the midpoint in the third quarter. But New Orleans rallied, and in fact, outplayed Tennessee the rest of the way. They scored a touchdown inside of the final two minutes and had an opportunity to tie it with a two-point conversion. However, it was unsuccessful, and the Titans preserved the win. My pick: Accurate
New England 45, Cleveland 7 - In the predictions, I had stated that my gut feeling was that the Browns would win. And when the Browns took an early 7-0 lead, that was still feeling right. But 45 points later, it was clearly not Cleveland's day. New England earned 452 yards and 30 first downs, to just 217 yards and 17 first downs for the Browns. Foxboro is starting to feel a little closer to the daunting venue for road teams that it was for so many years. The Pats are looking scary at the moment. Like, really scary. In fact, they look like they might be serious contenders for the AFC East, if they keep playing like this. Not a team that most other teams would want to play against at the moment. As for the Browns, not much good came from this game. My pick: Wildly Inaccurate
Dallas 43, Atlanta 3 - If there was any question whether that inexplicable blowout loss at home to the Broncos might have lingering effects, the Cowboys sure seemed to put those concerns to rest in this game. Dallas held onto the ball for well over 37 minutes and earned 431 yards and 22 first downs, at least doubling the Falcons production of 214 yards and 11 first downs in both categories. An incredibly dominant second quarter saw the Cowboys score four unanswered touchdowns, and the game was pretty much over after that. As Warner Wolf used to say, you can turn off your television sets right there. This was a statement win for the 'Boys, who got right back on the saddle after the prior game's letdown. As for the Falcons, not much good you can take away from this one. My pick: Accurate
Detroit 16, Pittsburgh 16 (OT) - Who could have predicted a tie, of all things, in this one? It was a sloppy game with mistakes in prominent evidence at times. Pittsburgh, for example, earned 387 yards to just 306 for the Lions, but they committed three turnovers, ruining some opportunities. The two teams played for 75 minutes, with overtime included, but neither was able to break the 16-16 gridlock, leading to the rare result of a tied final score. For the Lions, this probably feels a bit like a win, because they had lost every single game leading up to this point. For the Steelers, it might feel closer to a loss, since they had a chance to pull even with the Ravens had they won, but failed to do so. Still, Pittsburgh is undefeated in five straight games, which is an impressive streak nevertheless. My pick: Inaccurate
Indianapolis 23, Jacksonville 17 - The Colts hardly won in a cakewalk, but they won. That is the most important thing. They built up an early 17-0 lead in the first quarter, and then hung onto to win by holding off a Jacksonville rally. Jax has been coming on as of late, and they are starting to look like a tough team to play, regardless of a poor record that hides that fact. They fall to 2-7 on the season, while the Colts finally get back to even at 5-5. My pick:Accurate
Minnesota 27, LA Chargers 20 - The Vikings were better in almost every statistical category for this game. They held onto the ball for over 36 minutes, gaining 381 yards, to just 253 for the Chargers. They built up a decent lead in the first half, and then scored two touchdowns after the Chargers were able to take the lead. The Vikings did what was necessary to earn an important, even crucial win, that keep realistic playoff aspirations alive as Thanksgiving approaches. My pick: Inaccurate
Carolina 34, Arizona 10 - The Panthers are a difficult team to make predictions for this season, at least so far. I was not entirely sure that Cam Newton would even play in this game, and certainly, it did not seem likely that he would return to superstar form, which he enjoyed for most of his first stint with this team. Yet, that is what happened, and it could hardly have happened at a better time for the Panthers, as they went on the road and faced the team with the best overall record in the league, the 8-1 Arizona Cardinals. But the Cards hardly looked like they were anywhere near the best team in the league yesterday. The Panthers dominated this game in every way, hanging onto the ball for almost 38 minutes and compiling 341 yards and 24 first downs. Compare that to just 169 yards and 11 first downs for Arizona. Indeed, Carolina built up an impressive 23-0 lead by halftime before the Cards even scored finally in the second half. And they never came close to making an actual game of it. My pick: Inaccurate
Philadelphia 30, Denver 13 - The Broncos wore their throwback uniforms and old helmets for this game. But they sure did not play like those Broncos of the eighties and early nineties, who were regulars in the playoff picture. Denver just never seemed to get going, and the Eagles were simply better at converting chances in this one. They converted on Denver fumble into a touchdown going the other way on the final play of the third quarter, in what almost iced the game for the Eagles. Philly now improves to 4-6 on the season, while Denver drops to 5-5 and last place again in the AFC West, at least tied with the Raiders. My pick: Inaccurate
Green Bay 17, Seattle 0 - The Seahawks just could not do much of anything in this one. It was not that the Packers were particularly explosive or anything. Rodgers was back, but not in his best form. But AJ Dillon enjoyed a solid day of hard work, picking up 66 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries. The Packers relied on a ball control offense approach that helped them to hold onto the ball for over 39 minutes. And they won this one easily, recovering from their loss last week with a convincing win this week to improve to 8-2 and right back in a tight race for first seed in the NFC playoff race. As for Seattle, this is likely the loss that knocks them out of realistic playoff contention, as they just keep falling farther and farther behind. My pick: Accurate
SNF: Kansas City 41, Las Vegas 14 - The Chiefs finally looked like the Chiefs that we thought they were with a blowout win on the road over the suddenly hapless Raiders. Yes, KC was in charge for most of this contest, and just crushed it in this one. Mahomes was back in his perennial MVP consideration form, completing 35 of 50 passes for 406 yards and 5 touchdowns. Travis Kelce caught eight of those passes for 119 yards. In all, KC held onto the ball for over 35 minutes and earned 516 yards of total offense and 29 first downs. The home town Raiders simply had no answers for them, either on offense or defense. Astonishingly, despite how used to the dropped off level by the Chiefs we have gotten to this season, they are now in sole possession of first place in the AFC West as every other team in the division lost, and looks inconsistent. Meanwhile, Kansas City has won three in a row, and really are looking like they are getting their groove on. Watch out! My pick: Wildly Inaccurate
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